Kurt Rossacher (1918–1988) collected designs for European artworks of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries: oil sketches, sculpture bozzetti and drawings. In doing so, the artistic quality of the works was primarily more important to him than specific cultural landscapes or artists’ names.

Yet there are sufficient artworks to be found in the collection that can give us an idea of important artistic undertakings in the City of Rome. Among the foremost exponents are Gianlorenzo Bernini and Pietro da Cortona.

For Peter Paul Rubens, a commission in Rome was of particular value for his future career.